Thomas Willingale School and Nursery
Autumn Term 2024
Wk beginning 16th December '24
Wow! What a final week! We started the week with a visit from an Elf and enjoyed dancing and moving around, popping bubbles, as well as a surprise snow storm! On Wednesday, we had our Christmas dinner and jumper day. We all appreciated sitting down together to share a Christmas meal, pull a cracker with our friends and share the jokes inside. We looked amazing in all our Christmas finery.
Children carried on taking part in Christmas activities linked to all areas of learning, including making calendars. We also revised our phase 3 sounds learnt so far, tricky words and, in maths, looked at Christmas linked repeating patterns and counting to 10 and 20.
It has been such a busy term. Children have achieved so much. We hope that you all have a well earned rest- well done for completing your first term in reception. Have a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all back in January.
Week beginning 9th December '24
We are nearing the end of our term and the children excelled themselves in their Christmas production 'A King is Born' at the beginning of the week. We are so proud of them for singing so well and many of them taking on lines, which they delivered fantastically. You wouldn't believe that so many of them were still just four years old!
On Tuesday, Elm and Beech classes enjoyed a Christmas party with much fun to be had. Indeed, lots of activities this week have been Christmas linked, but have still been linked to our areas of learning. We have learnt the new sounds: ee, ai, igh and oa and done lots of linked activities. In maths, we have been using the language heavier and lighter and been weighing out and comparing lots of different objects. We have also been continuing our counting skills and revising our 2D shape to complete a Christmas puzzle.
Next week, will be our last week of the term. We are looking forward to our Christmas lunch and jumper day, as well as lots of learning opportunities linked to Christmas.
Week beginning 2nd December '24
In phonics, we have continued with our phase 3 sounds, learning ch, sh, th and ng. We have practised reading and spelling words, as well as writing phrases and sentences. We have also written letters to Santa to say what we would like for Christmas and enjoyed role playing in Santa's grotto.
In maths, we have been revising counting skills, finding 1 more or less, matching numerals to a number of objects amongst other things.
We have been practising very hard for our concert next Monday and can't wait to perform to our families. We have also enjoyed Forest School, as well as taking part in a Santa Dash on Friday.
Week beginning 25th November '24
It's incredible to believe that we are now at the end of November! We have had another busy week, rehearsing for our production, taking part in Pyjama day and continuing our transport topic. We have also been creating Christmas art work for the main hall and reception corridor.
In phonics, we have been consolidating our learning: reading and writing words, phrases and sentences that have included some of our tricky words. Our text of the week has been 'Duck in a truck.'
In maths, we have continued counting and recognising numbers. We have also learnt about 1 more and 1 less.
Wk beginning 18th November '24
We have continued our transport theme this week. Our main text has been 'Oi Get off our train' by John Burningham. We have been discussing vocabulary and asking and answering questions. In phonics, we have been learning the sounds 'y,' 'z,' 'zz' and 'qu,' as well as writing phrases with our tricky words and cvc words.
In maths, we have been counting on and back on a number line. If some numbers are taken away, can the children say which number is missing? We have also been developing the children's subitising skills. Subitising is the ability to look at a small set of objects and instantly know how many there are without counting them. We have used dice images, numicon shapes, and pictures of 4 and 5 for children to be able to recognise the totals for. We have also worked in groups to investigate with 4 and 5 cubes the different ways we could arrange the cubes still recognising the total of 4 or 5 cubes.
Preparations are well and truly underway for our Christmas Concert 'A King is Born.' Children have been practising very hard and the singing is sounding fabulous already. Children have continued to take part in lots of transport linked activities, including making use of our new small world airport. The week finished with 'Crazy Hair day' which was lots of fun.
Wk beginning 11th November '24
This week began with Remembrance Day on Monday. We observed the two minutes silence and took the Poppy creations that we made as a class last week to join the other tributes that classes had made across the school.
In phonics, we have moved on to the phase 3 sounds 'j,' 'v,' 'w,' and 'x.' We have practised reading and writing cvc words and phrases, including using these sounds, as well as reading full sentences. Our tricky words this week have been 'me' and 'be.' We have linked some of our writing to our transport theme.
In maths, we have been using positional language, as well as learning more about 2D shape linking it, again, to our transport theme.
On Friday, we took part in Children in Need, dressing in yellow and spots. We made Pudsey Ear headbands, alongside taking part in other Children in Need activities. We also continued our learning linked to our transport theme, including counting the number of different vehicles. We even linked our P.E. to transport, pretending to be different vehicles, thinking about how they moved.
Week beginning 4th November '24
It has been a very outdoors heavy week with Forest School on Tuesday and 'Outdoor Learning day' on Thursday.
In Forest school, classes had some independent exploring time and also did leaf rubbings. On 'Outdoor Learning day,' there were a range of activities to take part in outdoors, including more leaf linked activities, such as leaf printing and leaf art inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy. We looked at the different trees that we have in the reception garden and named each one, as well as studying and collecting their leaves for the artwork. Other activities included playing in the "dinosaur swamp' made from slime and taking part in transport linked activities, which is our theme for the half-term. Children particularly enjoyed building the train track collaboratively.
In phonics, we have been learning to recognise, say and write f, ff, l, ll, and ss. We have also continued to write cvc words and short phrases linking to these and our tricky words. We have read the story 'On the way home' to link to our transport topic and our 'Happy Minds' strength- honesty.
In maths, we have been reinforcing our numbers 6-10 and counting out those amounts. We have also been comparing size and creating pictograms to say how we travel to school.
Week beginning 21st October '24
We have finally reached the last week of our first haf-term in reception, and what a busy week it has been!
The children have been very lucky and had two music related sessions this week: one amazing African drumming session, linked to Black History Month and one Rock assembly from the Rock Steady music company. Here, we were shown demonstrations using electric guitars, bass guitars, electric keyboards, drums and singing. We joined in with singing and dancing and really enjoyed ourselves. On Wednesday, we also held our Hallowe'en disco, with much fun to be had.
Our main text this week has been Handa's Surprise and we have taken part in lots of linked activities. Classes have also been talking about animals that live in Africa, learning more information about them. In phonics, we have continued to consolidate learning, reading and writing cvc words and practising our handwriting. We have also been practising forming numbers and matching number cards to the correct number of objects.
We hope that children have a wonderful well-earned rest and we look forward to seeing them back after the half-term.
Week beginning 14th October '24
A week of pets! Our story of the week was 'The Great Pet Sale' by Mick Inkpen. We apologise in advance for all the requests that you might have been getting for some rather unusual pets! We have done lots of linked learning, including thinking about our own or favourite pets. We even managed to link it to our P.E., moving like different types of animals. Children had to think of actions and movements, without actually making animal sounds, so that we knew that it was that animal.
In phonics, we did lots of reading and writing of cvc words, especially linked to pets and animals. We have also been recapping and learning new tricky words.
Children have been trying really hard, in maths, with their writing of numbers up to 9 and we have done more work on repeated patterns.
What an amazing week we've had! Please remember that normal classes will not be taking place on Monday, due to parent consultations. We look forward to seeing Beech and Elm Class back on Tuesday.
Week beginning 7th October '24
This week, our story 'Owl Babies' has been the focus for a lot of our learning. We have read, retold and sequenced the story, as well as made owl stick puppets so that children can act out the story. Children have counted and compared size of owl babies and enjoyed more related craft activities. As part of Black History Month, we have also enjoyed reading and talking about 'Handa's Hen.' Our phonics this week has been focused on 'ck,' 'e,' 'u,' and 'r,' and we have continued to learn our tricky words, as well as to decode cvc words.
In R.E., we have learnt more about Christianity and about what happens at Harvest. P.E. has continued to focus on moving in different ways and avoiding obstacles. In Happy Minds, we have been learning about how our brains grow when we learn new things. We talked to our friends about new things we have learnt that we have needed to practise to get better at.
Next week, we will be focusing on our pets. We will continue to read and spell cvc words and tricky words. We will be focusing hard on our handwriting and writing of numerals.
Week beginning 30th September '24
It has all been about our home this week in our learning. We have read 'This is our house.' by Michael Rosen and Bob Graham and taken part in lots of activities across the curriculum, including drawing our own homes and saying who lives in them and building homes using 2D shapes and lolly sticks. We have been talking about linked shape names and recognising which part of the home is made from these shapes.
In phonics, we have looked at the sounds 'g,' 'o,' 'c,' and 'k.' We have thought of lots of objects that start with these sounds and practised writing them too. We have also been learning to recognise some of our tricky words.
Despite a very wet day, as we were in our waterproof clothing, we enjoyed a fantastic Forest School session teaching us about the seasons and how the trees drop their leaves for us to play with.
Next week, we will be looking at the sounds 'ck,' 'e,' 'u,' and 'r.' Our main text will be 'Owl Babies' and we will be doing lots of linked activities.
Week beginning 23rd September '24
In English this week, we have been reading Kipper's Birthday, discussing what happened in the story and taking part in lots of linked activities, including saying and writing how old we are, making birthday cards, presents and invites. There has been lots of emphasis on writing names in lots of different ways, including in crayon, chalk and using magnetic letters. We have looked at the sounds 'i,' 'n,' 'm,' and 'd,' practising forming the letters too.
In maths, we have continued to reinforce our recognition and counting of numbers. We have looked at different ways of making four, using multilink and copied a repeating pattern.
In R.E., we have focused on Christianity and named objects that Christians believe that God made. Children have continued to focus on using space well and avoiding obstacles, as well as moving in different ways in P.E. this week.
Week beginning 16th September '24
It has been another busy week in Reception. Children have developed friendships and enjoyed taking part in Forest School and P.E. sessions.
In our phonics, we have been recognising, saying and writing the sounds 's,' 'a,' 't,' and 'p,' playing lots of games to help reinforce them. We have been sharing class texts from Bug Club and have been encouraging sharing of stories from the reading corner.
In maths, we have been reinforcing rote counting, one to one correspondence and have enjoyed singing a range of number songs, as well as playing number games. Children have enjoyed using the hopscotch outside, counting the numbers as they travelled.
In next week's phonics, we will be looking at the sounds 'i,' 'n,' 'm' and 'd.' In maths, we will be using numicon to match numbers up to 10 and will also be copying a pattern.
Week beginning 9th September '24
Congratulations to all our reception children, who have completed their first full week at school. It has been lovely seeing children become more settled and making friends across the two classes. We have enjoyed getting to know them more and see their confidence grow in a matter of days.
Classes have enjoyed sharing stories, both linked to our reading programme and from the reading corner. Children have taken part in lots of number games and songs and we have introduced them to Numicon, which uses shapes and patterns to help children learn about numbers. They have also been challenged to build a Duplo tower, counting the number of bricks that they have used.
Children have also continued embracing our topic of 'All about me,' talking to their peers to tell them more about themselves, as well as talking about colours and painting pictures in the style of Kandinsky.
This week, both classes have had P.E. lessons with the coach and their class teachers. They have also enjoyed exploring the outdoor area more.
We hope that you have a well-earned rest this weekend and look forward to seeing you back next week.
Week beginning 2nd September '24
We have been so proud of how our new reception children have settled so easily into class this week. They have had lots of fun meeting new friends and exploring the reception environment, indoors and outdoors. They have been recognising and writing their names and have been painting beautiful self-portraits. We can't wait to see them back again next week, where they will meet yet more friends, as they join with the rest of the class.
